This present disclosure is related to wellbore operations and, more particularly, to sand control screen assemblies that receive, retain, and protect control lines during installation and operation of the sand control screen assembly.
During hydrocarbon production from subsurface formations, efficient control of the movement of unconsolidated formation particles into the wellbore, such as sand, has always been a pressing concern. Such formation movement commonly occurs during production from completions in loose sandstone or following the hydraulic fracture of a formation. Formation movement can also occur suddenly in the event a section of the wellbore collapses, thereby circulating significant amounts of particulates and fines within the wellbore. Production of these unwanted materials may cause numerous problems in the efficient extraction of oil and gas from subterranean formations. For example, producing formation particles may tend to plug the formation, tubing, and subsurface flow lines. Producing formation particles may also result in the erosion of casing, downhole equipment, and surface equipment. These problems lead to high maintenance costs and unacceptable well downtime.
Numerous methods have been utilized to control the movement or production of these unconsolidated formation particles during production operations. For example, one or more sand control screen assemblies are commonly included in the completion string to regulate and restrict the movement of formation particles. Such sand control screen assemblies are commonly constructed by installing one or more screen jackets on a perforated base pipe. The screen jackets typically include one or more drainage layers, one or more screen elements such as a wire wrapped screen or single or multi-layer wire mesh screen, and a perforated outer shroud.
Smart well components are also often installed with sand control screen assemblies to enable the management of downhole equipment and production fluids. Such smart well components can include one or more sensing devices such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, flow rate sensors, fluid composition measurement devices, or the like. Other smart well components include control mechanisms, such as flow control devices, safety devices, and the like. These smart well systems are typically controlled or communicated with using one or more control lines that may include hydraulic lines, electrical lines, fiber optic bundles, or the like and combination thereof.
Such control lines are currently clamped to the outer surface of the tubular and the sand screens as the completion assembly is being run into the wellbore. Sand screens often include a support channel to house the control lines on the outside of the sand-screen, but this inevitably increases the outer diameter of the sand screen. In order to accommodate the increased outer diameter of the sand screens, oftentimes a larger wellbore needs to be drilled. Otherwise, the inner flow path of the tubular can be made smaller (i.e., smaller pipe in the center of the sand-screen), but this results in reduced hydrocarbon production.